Crypto Markets Finally See Wave of Modest Growth After Period of Relative Stability

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Monday, Oct. 8: markets have taken a near-unanimous upturn, even as onlookers have been pointing to a period of uncharacteristically stable price action in the crypto sphere. Virtually all the top 100 cryptocurrencies are seeing solid growth on the day, as data from Coin360 shows.

Market visualization by Coin360

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a relatively strong boost, by press time growing almost 2 percent on the day to trade solidly above the $6,600 mark at $6,664. The breakthrough to a higher price point comes after several days of sideways trading, with one crypto persona quipped Oct. 5 that “Bitcoin [had] decided to be the ultimate stablecoin.”

That same day, a Bloomberg article underscored the top coin’s marked price stability of late, proclaiming that Bitcoin had “hit an inflection point with volatility at a 17-month low.” The flipside to such steadiness, the article noted, is lower trading volumes, due to lower “speculative involvement.”

While some of Bloomberg’s sources considered stability a sign of “maturity,” others deemed the low volatility-volume couple a “capitulation”: a parallel article went so far as to suggest that Bitcoin is now “boring” – a rarely uttered alliteration in crypto news. The latter article noted that Bitcoin has traded with a $732 range since Sept. 7, “swinging no more than 12 percent from peak to trough,” citing compiled data from Bitstamp.

On its weekly chart, Bitcoin is now just over one percent in the green, with monthly growth a strong 8 percent.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

Ethereum (ETH) is similarly seeing strong action on the day, up almost 3 percent to trade at $230. Despite a dip as low as $218 early on its weekly chart, the leading altcoin has seen several days trading range-bound between $220-225.

On the week, Ethereum is around 0.6 percent in the red; monthly growth is close to 17 percent.

Ripple (XRP) has outflanked both Bitcoin and Ethereum, growing an impressive 3.35 percent on the day to trade at $0.49. The asset saw major price momentum in September, growing so rapidly it briefly knocked Ethereum off its long-standing second spot ranking on CoinMarketCap’s listings.

Until today’s growth, Ripple had however tapered off throughout most of early October: the token remains a stark 14.5 percent in the red on its weekly chart. On the month, its gains are, however, an astonishing almost 70 percent.

Ripple 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ripple Price Index

The remaining top ten coins on CoinMarketCap are all in the green, almost all seeing between 2 and 4 percent growth. Cardano (ADA) is up the most — rising almost 5 percent to trade at $0.087 at press time. Also firmly in the green, EOS (EOS) is up close to 4 percent on the day at $5.92, and Stellar (XLM) and Litecoin (LTC) both up just over 2 percent.

In the context of the top twenty coins, momentum is similarly strong, with Tezos (XTZ) and VeChain (VEC), ranked 18th and 19th by market cap, both seeing about 4.5 percent growth on the day to press time. The 12th-largest crypto IOTA (MIOTA) is also up around 4.5 percent.

As of press time, Tron (TRX) is up a “milder” 4 percent to trade at $0.026. Earlier today, the asset saw a serious pump, however, soaring almost 8 percent after CEO Justin Sun claimed a today’s update would see the protocol beat Ethereum on speed and EOS on cost.

Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is around $221.4 billion as of press time, still just shy of a high on the weekly chart of close to $223 billion.

7-day chart of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies from CoinMarketCap

CNBC’s Cryptotrader host Ran Neuner claimed in a tweet yesterday that “it’s too obvious” that Bitcoin’s price is “about to explode.” In terms of what might spur the growth, Neuner in a separate tweet, pointed to anticipation around the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) upcoming deadline for a decision on multiple Bitcoin ETF applications.

From the more bearish side of things, American economist and notorious crypto critic Nouriel Roubini – sometimes referred to as ‘Dr. Doom’ for his prediction of the 2008 financial crisis – made a provocative series of statements on Twitter today saying that cryptocurrency is more centralized than North Korea, adding the Bitcoin has the “worst inequality on earth.”